Sunday 23 September 2012

Cousins

It was great to have Lilly over today and the boys loved her... We're going to miss her but looking forward to our Skype time.














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Thursday 20 September 2012

Diary of a Achilles tendon rupture recovery

Day 2 (swollen)

Day 21 (with all the red disinfectant... The thread still there)

And today day 35 (after my first bath- a lot of old skin to scrub away. Thread still there)

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Reuben back in his Indian outfit





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Location:Tonbridge Rd,Tunbridge Wells,United Kingdom

Monday 10 September 2012

First day of school

Joshie started school today. And its Reuben's second week.

They grow up fast.



















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Sunday 9 September 2012

At the Paralympics with Joshie

We were miraculously given two tickets for the Paralympics.

We dreamed of going and a friend said they wanted to give us a treat in the form of 2 tickets for the 7th Sept between 10-12.40 in the Olympic stadium.

Being a bit of a invalid with my Achilles injury I'm barely mobile. It's seemed so lame to be speaking of my limited abilities amongst the largest global gathering of abilities amongst the disabled community.

We got escorted fairly much to the door.

The atmosphere was amazing and to top it off we saw Josue Cajuste who happened to have Joshie on his shoulders only 5 days earlier throwing in the javelin.

The morning was awesome.

Watching blind people sprint down a track and leap with only voices telling where the line was and propelled into the air using their remaining senses to land safely. We saw races in wheelchairs. We saw the pinnacle of people who defied the naysayers to triumph heroically to display what they are able to do.

Great to see the super humans.





















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Monday 3 September 2012

What dreams are made of

Yesterday was quite a day.

"The world's most inspirational Paralympians" was a headline of a centrepiece in one of the national newspapers. The article featured 9 (maybe 11 if you include the 2 Rwandans that compete as a united team though only 18 years earlier fought each other on separate armies of the civil war- each of their amputees a result of conflict and their chosen sport one of collaboration, sitting volleyball.) It even had Dedeline, from Congo who lost her legs from Landmines. But at the centre was two athletes Leon Gainsly and Josue Cajust from Haiti. They both represent a country that is crippled with poverty and disaster. They train by rubble. They train amongst name calling and represent, like all these athletes, a Dream of something bigger than sport, disability and politics.

I was grateful, albeit by accident, stumble upon Leon, just as thos who rescued him from the rubble which claimed his wife, 8 children and his legs in what should have been a maternity ward that I was involved in trying to help amidst the earthquake of 2010. I didn't plan on meeting him. I guess I didn't plan on seeing a girl dying when I was there that was crippled by disability and left to die by a doctor who couldn't help her yet desperately wanted to help.

Seeing Leon and Josue's determination and desire to be more at the centre of those pages inspired me. I will cheer them on over these days and salute all who compete amongst incredible adversity in the Paralympics. Every athlete has a story and loving how these games celebrates each of them and allows these to be taken back to their communities to inspire and bring hope.

Here's the moment when we got to meet some of them.












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Location:London Rd,Tunbridge Wells,United Kingdom